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| Thank you, Mrs. Stiles (Mrs. Wood's mom) for sewing new pillow covers! The new covers look great in our sports themed classroom! |
Reading Workshop
This week we added several reading strategies to our CAFE board. We learned that strong readers don't skip words, mumble words, or pretend to know words when they don't. Instead, strong readers use strategies to figure out tricky words, such as: look for chunks they know and put the parts together, read the whole sentence and think about what makes sense, try short and long vowel sounds (flip the sound). We also talked about how readers use details from a story to create an image in their minds. Talk partners got together at closing to share an excerpt from their books which created an image in their minds.
Students continued to write personal narratives this week. We learned that writers include descriptive details to describe the setting. We also talked about how writers create a clear sequence of events. We practiced telling our story across our hands again. This time we focused on using sequence words and describing each event in more detail. Students also learned that writers use specific verbs to make their writing clear. During workshop students needed to locate a verb in their writing to circle and change into a stronger verb. For example, rather than writing "Jim walked home after school." students are encouraged to use a more specific verb to give the reader a clear mental image, such as "Jim rushed home after school."
Word Study
Our first official week of word study went really well! Students practiced their spelling pattern in class Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They rotated through three different word study centers. Ask your child what his/her favorite word study activity was this week!
Science
We continued to investigate water this week. Through a water race investigation students learned larger drops of water move more quickly down a slope. They also learned water moves more quickly down a steeper slope. Check out the video below of one group's investigation. We also built our own "thermometers" using small glass bottles, rubber stoppers, and straws. Students observed that hot water expands, which causes water to rise. They also observed that cold water contracts, which takes up less space, causing the water level to fall.
Social Studies
We finished up our "Where in the World is Troy?" geography unit this past week in class. In this unit, students learned about the 7 continents and 4 oceans, the 3 countries located on the continent of North America, the Midwest Region, the state of Michigan, Oakland County, the city of Troy, and even their own street and house address. All of that information will be included on the geography quiz that students will take in class next Friday, October 4th. A study guide came home last week that includes what your child will need to know for the test and a labeling practice sheet (that does not need to be returned to school). Below are photos of students doing a scavenger hunt using large maps of the city of Troy.
Math Workshop
This week students worked on building fluency of multiplication facts with 2s, 5s, 9s, and 10s. They continued to practice multiplication and division word problems as well. Students began a "Word Problem of the Day" each morning to give more practice reading and solving word problems. Students were also introduced to the Distributive Property of Multiplication. Below is an example of what we worked on together in class.
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